Wimbledon 2015: Heather Watson calls her Twitter trolls 'cowards'

Heather Watson said she has suffered from abuse on social media in the past

British number one Heather Watson has called her critics on social media "cowards".

The 23-year-old beat Daniela Hantuchova to make it into round three of Wimbledon for only the second time in her career, where she will face five-time winner Serena Williams.

But Watson said abuse on Twitter has "become such a usual occurrence" she has stopped reading the messages.

"I think those people, they've got no life," said the world number 59.

Watson had earlier this week told the New York Times that she and her family had received death threats online.

And on Wednesday she added: "They're just kind of cowards thinking they can say whatever they want on the internet.

"They don't understand that we're just people at the end of the day."

Watson is the last British woman left in the main draw after her 6-4 6-2 win over the Slovakian world number 72 and meets world number one Williams on Friday.